Portrait of Jennie (1948)

Portrait of Jennie
Directed by William Dieterle
Written by Paul Osborn and Peter Berneis from a novel by Robert Nathan
1948/USA
Vanguard Films/Selznick International Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Jennie Appleton: [singing] Where I come from nobody knows and where I am going everything goes. The wind blows, the sea flows, nobody knows. And where I am going, nobody knows.[/box]

I admit it.  I am too old and cynical to appreciate this very odd romantic fantasy.  It sure did look good though.

Eben Adams (Joseph Cotten) is a starving painter.  He brings a portfolio of landscapes to an art gallery in hopes of selling something.  The gallery owners Mr. Matthews (Cecil Kellaway) and Miss Spinney (Ethel Barrymore) tell him he is talented but nothing special.  He needs to find something to be passionate about to bring life to his work.  Miss Spinney buys a painting anyway.

As he is walking home through Central Park, Eben meets a young teenager who is building a snowman.  She introduces herself as Jennie Appleton (Jennifer Jones) and says her parents are performing in a vaudeville act at the Hammersmith Theater.  The theater has been closed for many years.  Eben and Jennie have a pleasant conversation and she asks him to wait for her before disappearing.  He finds her scarf wrapped in an old newspaper but is unable to return it to her.

Eban gets new inspiration from this meeting and begins a portrait of Jennie based on his memory.  The gallery owners are impressed.  His finances start to look up when he gets a job painting a mural in an Irish pub.

Jennie reappears at intervals over the next several years, growing up as she does so and continuing to ask Eban to wait for her to be old enough to marry.  She disappears each time and it gradually becomes clear that she is some kind of apparition from around 1910. Eventually, Eban paints a masterpiece when she poses for him.

This is another film based on the theme of eternal redemptive love.  It argues that the one right person in the universe may be from another time and spiritual realm.  Very, very odd. The photography and effects are fantastic.  Some of the scenes start out as transformations from oil paintings.  It concludes with a truly awesome storm.  If the story strikes you as interesting, I’d say go for it.

Portrait of Jennie won the Academy Award for Best Effects, Special Effects.  Joseph H. August was nominated for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White.

Clip

Joe Dante on Portrait of Jennie, “Trailers from Hell”